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Chapter 01
“Fortune teller, do you think things could work out between me and that person?”
The naïve-looking young lady asked in a nervous tone. Her gaze was fixed on the mysterious fortune teller seated across the tea table.
The fortune teller woman, draped in an enigmatic robe, curled her red lips into a smile.
“Let us ask the heavens about milady’s fortune.”
The fortune teller waved her slender fingers over the crystal ball as if casting magic. Light swirled inside the crystal ball, and the young lady’s eyes sparkled in amazement.
Opening the eyes she had tightly shut, the fortune teller drew a single card from the deck on the table and revealed it.
“You’ve drawn the Lovers card. Your romantic luck is flowing in like waves this month. Why not send a signal to the person you fancy?”
“Eek, I’m so embarrassed, what should I do?!”
At that, the other noble ladies gathered in the tea shop began bombarding the fortune teller with questions.
“What about me? Do I have marriage luck?”
“For milady… marriage fortune has arrived, but your partner seems flirtatious. It would be wise to be careful.”
“I knew it! That jerk still hasn’t proposed after a whole year!”
The empire’s most eligible noble ladies swung between heaven and hell with every word the fortune teller spoke.
The cards chosen from her hands danced their way into the hearts of the young ladies.
After the flurry of tarot readings ended, the fortune teller, now left alone, held a heavy pouch filled with silver coins.
“Hehe, how much money would this be after exchange? Rich noble ladies really are generous.”
The fortune teller revealed her rather materialistic thoughts as she removed her robe. Beneath it was a beautiful woman with sharp, cat-like eyes.
A small beauty mark near her eye made her face appear even more mysterious and alluring. Her wavy purple hair cascaded down to her waist, and her golden eyes shone like lanterns in the night.
The fortune teller’s name was Yurita Synette. Surprisingly, she herself was a noble lady.
Moreover, among noblewomen, she was famous for being exceptionally accurate in love readings.
Yurita’s dazzling way with words and uncanny precision in predicting worries were more than enough to captivate innocent young ladies.
But this level of income wasn’t nearly enough to repay her debts.
“Do you even know how much your father owes? A thousand gold coins! A thousand!”
Those were the thunderous words spat at Yurita by a debt collector.
A thousand gold coins. Even if she read tarot cards every single day of the year, it would still be difficult to pay off.
“If they were going to transmigrate me anyway, they could’ve at least put me into the body of a rich noble lady.”
And now, another truth is revealed.
Yurita was someone who had transmigrated into the body of a supporting character from a romance fantasy novel.
Not into a prosperous noble family, but into the daughter of a ruined household hunted by debt collectors.
“The settings of the character I transmigrated into really couldn’t have been worse.”
Her father had failed in business and disappeared while fleeing creditors. Her mother had died of illness years ago.
The only asset left was a run-down mansion. Along with that, there was one maid barely hired thanks to the help of her uncle, Baron Synette, and her young little brother, Theo.
“And somehow, I ended up becoming the eldest daughter responsible for the family.”
To pay off the debt, she was at least earning money with the skills she already had.
Even before transmigrating, Yurita had read tarot cards as a side job in pursuit of financial freedom.
To live comfortably while enjoying financial freedom—that had been Yurita’s one and only wish before transmigration.
Yet somehow, she’d ended up even farther from that dream than when she lived in the modern world.
Sighing, Yurita packed away her cards and bundles of money before rising from her seat in the tea shop.
“First, let’s go home.”
The fact that she already called that dilapidated mansion “home” meant Yurita had adapted frighteningly well.
“Well, I don’t have the luxury to hesitate if I want to survive.”
Whether in the modern world or here, Yurita intended to do what she had always done.
And so, with the setting sun glowing dimly behind her, she arrived at the mansion.
“…Something feels wrong.”
A pitch-black carriage stood in front of the mansion, and the front gate hung wide open.
Feeling as though her everyday life was shattering apart, Yurita hurried inside.
They say disaster strikes like a bolt from the blue. The weather today truly matched that saying.
The dry air carried not a single drop of rain, yet a streak of lightning suddenly crashed down over the Synette mansion.
And Yurita, a superstitious fanatic, swore that lightning had struck because of the unwelcome guest inside the mansion.
A shattered window. Broken shards of glass scattered across the floor.
Standing atop them was a man with red hair.
Ash from the cigarette hanging from his lips fell in little flakes to the ground.
“Who are you?”
Yurita shouted toward the large man standing face-to-face with her younger brother.
The man, who had been looking down at the crying Theo, slowly turned his head in a chilling motion.
Yurita’s eyes met his unruly red ones.
“Hey, are you that so-called eldest daughter of this mansion?”
His honey-like deep voice carried an unmistakably threatening tone.
Even though it was her first time seeing him, Yurita instantly hated the man to the point of shivering. Staring him down, she answered firmly.
“I am. And who exactly are you to barge into our mansion like this?”
“Our mansion? Try saying that after paying your debts properly. Otherwise, this place will soon belong to me.”
The moment she heard that, Yurita understood.
“So he’s the leader of the debt collectors.”
The lender had given money to Lord Synette, her father. And now, after months of not being repaid, he had personally come to collect.
Grinning, the man sauntered toward Yurita. Anyone could tell he looked exactly like a thug.
Yet his handsome face somehow softened that gangster-like aura. His eyes looked down on others lazily, and his features were unfairly perfect.
“…Judging by his clothes, he seems like a noble. But he personally collects debts too? He really is a gangster.”
Yurita sneered inwardly. The man slowly looked around the mansion interior before speaking expressionlessly.
“This mansion is so old it barely has any financial value. Only the land is worth something. Might as well tear it down and build a casino or something.”
“…Tear down the house? As far as I know, there’s still time left before the debt repayment deadline.”
“Everyone in town knows your father ran away in the middle of the night. Since you can’t pay back the money, this house is naturally mine.”
The man answered with a scowl, looking exactly like the kind of delinquent Yurita hated most.
“Vacate this house within three days. Otherwise, you’ll end up crying in the ashes when the place collapses.”
Laughing like a villain, the man blew cigarette smoke into Yurita’s face.
Her brows twitched for a moment, but she calmed herself with a breath.
With a cold expression, Yurita pulled out a money pouch from her clothes and shoved it into the man’s chest.
The man frowned fiercely.
“What’s this?”
“Money. Twenty silver coins. That’s two gold coins.”
“Two gold coins? Who do you think this tiny amount will satisfy?”
“Please give me just six months. I’ll bring you twice this amount every single day. My father ran away, but I won’t. So stop threatening my little brother and leave for today.”
A flicker of interest appeared on the man’s fierce face.
“And where exactly will you get the money? It’s not like a noble lady can run a business. Or are you planning to do something shady?”
Even at the offensive remark, Yurita stood her ground and stepped closer to him.
“Then I’ll just start a business. I happen to have a small talent.”
“……”
“And I’ll write to my uncle, Baron Synette, and ask for help. I should be able to receive financial support.”
The man’s face clearly showed, Is she seriously trying to repay it?
“Yeah, you thug. I’ll really pay it back.”
Staring straight at him, Yurita continued speaking.
“So please tell me your name, sir. So that I may repay you.”
“…Ha!”
The man laughed as though dumbfounded. His face moved closer to Yurita’s.
“We’ll see whether you really keep that promise. My name is Zachary Killerster. Duke Killerster.”
A duke! And Killerster at that!
Yurita was horrified internally.
The man grinning wickedly before her was the final boss villain from the novel she had read.
Only then did she slowly take in the details she had missed because of the tension.
Blood-red hair. Crimson eyes. A physique that could rival any knight. A rough and delinquent demeanor completely unfitting for a duke.
And on top of that, a face far too handsome for a villain.
He matched the novel’s description of the villain perfectly.
The infamous thug who disturbed the peace of the Naroa Empire.
Zachary Killerster.
That man… was Yurita’s creditor.
“A mere noble lady should bow before a duke, shouldn’t she?”
